Thursday, November 14, 2013

Young Life Work Crew...part 2!


Romans 12:11
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, 
serving the Lord. (NIV)

Saturday afternoon, I was still resting in my bed after working night shift the previous night. I had just 30 more minutes before my alarm would go off, sending me into the shower to prepare for another all nighter. My husband came into our room, holding his cell phone while I heard Emily's voice over the speaker phone. She sounded amazing. She was talking extremely fast and jumping from one story to the next. She talked about the people she had met, the girls in her cabin, the leaders, and the campers. She talked about other girls and their individual stories. Some stories were similar to hers and others were so much harder to hear, about loss and insecurity and pain. She spoke about how quickly a few of them had become friends. After only one week with these people in this amazing place, she could tell that God was speaking to her about the kind of person that He had created her to be.
She spoke about the families that had come to camp that week and about how they had included her in their story. She talked about one man standing up at the end of the week and talking directly to the work crew staff. He challenged them to go home changed...even if they were going home alone without the support of another Young Life member! She talked about how she was going to have to come home and have some hard conversations with some of her friends. She sounded confident, light, and full of expectation. She said I have prayed to and heard from God more this week than I have in my entire lifetime....and this place...it is just so beautiful!  No wonder she sounded so great!






 
After about 15 minutes of listening to her talk, I got out my phone and started recording her voice. I couldn't help it. I just wanted to be able to listen to the joy in her voice over and over again. She was radiant... shining right through the cell phone!
It was just as we had expected. We knew that God would not have called her to Trail West to leave her there in despair, alone, without friends. He just needed to get her attention. To show her that He was enough. She was soaring. Every week she called at the same time. She talked for an hour each time...almost non-stop. She told us everything. She even said, "I wish you all could come! You would love it here!"  She wrote us letters that we will save forever, heartfelt and kind and full of encouragement. We were noticing....she was coming alive!


As one week turned into four, we could not wait to see her. We made plans to pick her up from the airport in the wee hours of the morning and head directly to IHOP so we could enjoy her homecoming! And that is exactly what we did! 

Oh joy! Fun memories! Sweet times!

This is the welcome video from the first week she was there! Oh to be one of those camper families! 

Linking up again with alphabe-Thursday! The letter is Z...for ZEAL!
Come on over and join the fun...now is the time to join the class! 

5 comments:

  1. Ah, blessed ~ beautiful post and family ~ great shots ~ Zeal is right! ~ thanks, carol, xxx

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  2. What a joy it must be to see your daughter blossom through Christ's radiant love! This camp looks like an amazing opportunity for young people to discover/rediscovery their call/purpose for Christ. I enjoyed all the pictures. Great "Z" link up for the Alphabe-Thursday classroom!

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  3. I LOVE these kinds of activities for young people. Wonderful.

    =)

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  4. Young Life is an amazing organization....My HS class went through the program and I am so happy to connect with schoolmates from 40 yrs ago who still have the zeal for Christ because of that shared experience. May the Holy Spirit guide you and yours in all your endeavors♫♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/zzzz/

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  5. What an amazing experience for Emily...

    I bet her time there zoomed by...

    And I bet her zeal for life is contagious too!



    Zesty post for the letter "Z"!

    Thanks for linking.

    A+

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